Sam Richardson, the Emmy-winning comedian known for his work on Veep and Ted Lasso, is joining John Cena in Matchbox, Apple Original Films’ live-action take on the classic Mattel car toy line.
Sam Hargrave, the helmer behind the Extraction action movies, is directing the feature that also has Jessica Biel on the call sheet.
Matchbox is the toy brand first created in 1953 and acquired by Mattel in 1997. The company originally competed with Matchbox in the die-cast car space with its own line, Hot Wheels. According to lore, automotive enthusiast Jack Odell designed the first car for his daughter, who was allowed to take a toy to school only if it was small enough to fit in a matchbox. When his daughter’s school friends too began clamoring for a “matchbox car,” an iconic brand was born.
Plot details are being kept under the hood. The screenplay is by David Coggeshall, who wrote action comedy The Family Plan for Apple, and Jonathan Tropper, the author and scribe who wrote the Ryan Reynolds action-adventure feature The Adam Project.
Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger will produce alongside Robbie Brenner for Mattel Films and Jules Daly.
Richardson, armed with an extensive comedy résumé, earned notices for his work on seminal comedy Veep and earned two Emmy nominations (and one win) for his work on Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso. Among his recent work is acting as part of the ensemble of the Lord Miller-produced series The Afterparty and appearing in Hocus Pocus 2.
He is repped by UTA, Artists First and Jackoway Austen.
English (US) ·